Mary's Song

What kind of winter are you having right now? Some of us are in a long difficult winter season of our lives that seems to last forever.

During this season we hear inescapable Christmas music and carols everywhere we go, on TV, radio, and malls. Some don’t feel like singing along. Most of us sing when things are going great, but what if they’re not, can we still sing?

For Israel it had been in a very long season of winter
It had been 400 years since God had spoken to them by the prophet Malachi, but God’s plan of redemption was not over. They were waiting for their Messiah. As prophesied by Isaiah God sent His only Son into their world to bring light and hope into their season of discontent.

The singing of songs and hymns goes way back to the Old Testament. Only Luke’s gospel includes four songs that have been sung for centuries by real people in real times of disappointment just like you and I. 

Luke’s four songs were sung by the quiet ones of Israel who were its’ real strength. People like Mary, Zechariah and Elizabeth and Simeon who kept the hope of Israel alive.

In those days the pheasant girl Mary had an amazing miraculous visitation from the angel Gabriel declaring she will give birth to the Son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit. While that was extremely good news for Israel Mary was understandably “greatly troubled” with the announcement. That’s putting it mildly. It was more like completely overwhelmed.

Imagine Mary thinking, “My parents are going to kill me when I tell them I’m pregnant.” Can you imagine the response of Mary's parents when they asked her who was the father and she told them the Holy Spirit? ”What, excuse me, come again, repeat that?” When the news hits her home town it will get even more painful for Mary.

Mary will endure harsh criticism, accusations, slurs, and incessant whispering from her friends and neighbors. Not just then, but for years. Before Mary breaks into her song she asked Gabriel, “How will this be since I am a virgin?”Gabriel told her, “For nothing is impossible with God.” What was Mary’s response?
                                       
                                           “May it be as you have said?” 

Can you hear Mary’s heart surrender to God? Whatever you say Lord, whatever you desire that’s what I want. She let go of that which she could not control. That’s hard isn’t it? Maybe I think I got to straighten things out on my own, especially if I’ve messed things up? I’m going to get myself out of this somehow. I’ll figure it out on my own. I think I have control.

In the midst of your winter of discontent who or what is your resource? Perhaps you think that God is unaware or detached from your life story? In the midst of deep discouragement the prophet Isaiah comforted Israel with these words:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:27-29

Maybe I’m hesitant to come to God because I’m not sure if He cares or can really do anything about my situation? Yet, He wants us to come to Him.

God wants us be honest with who we are and who He is
He wants us to realize that we are dependent upon His grace and ability to do for us what we cannot do on our own. 
“God designed us to run on Him! He is the fuel our spirits are designed to burn.” John Eldredge

Mary could sing in the midst of her winter season because she knew that God had the desire and the power to see her through her difficult season of life and she understood his amazing grace.(Is.40:25-26; Col.1:16-17) Mary freely admitted she needed God’s power and grace. She could say, 'I need you God.' She could sing in the midst of her winter.

What about you? Can you sing like Mary when you’re frozen in your winter of discontent? It is possible by understanding His power and grace and telling God you need Him. Perhaps you can say along with Mary, “May it be as you have said.”   

Is The American Dream the Promised Land?

We all have dreams and over time our unrealized dreams can seem distant and unattainable, maybe even impossible?
 
The long wait can bring us to a place of desperation and we may wonder does anyone care about my situation or about me? Although our dreams might be altruistic to us, but where do our dreams come from or for whom are our dreams for?

For a variety of reasons many have been confused between the biblical ‘Promised Land’ and the ‘American Dream.’ Over the centuries many have thought that America was the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of fulfilled promise, a place of opportunity. For many it has been and can be.

The biblical Promised Land narrative is often related to the immigrant story in the founding of the United States.  Our forefathers rightly envisioned America as a land of religious freedom, opportunity, hope, and the pursuit of happiness from which we benefit today.

The idea that America is a kind of Promised Land is understandable, yet many people inside or outside the church have mistaken America for the biblical Promised Land. For many the view that America is the Promised Land of ultimate opportunity has become a pretext for the American entitlement of happiness.

If we think that we are entitled to happiness then we should get what we want when we want it and maybe for free. 
Could it be that this perception of the entitlement of the American Dream has shaped American's identity, lifestyle and vocation more than anything else? Our consuming habits can be just another step toward the Promised Land.

As Mark Labberton said, “The intertwining of Promised Land assumptions and consumer opportunities easily becomes a powerful economic, social and spiritual engine. Promised Land hopes fires American consumerism, and puts the “buyer” in the controller’s seat with expectations and demands, largely for personal ends.”

This approach makes pragmatic sense if you believe you’re in the Promised Land and assume it exists merely for your benefit, so you simply take what’s available, which is what you see everybody else doing. This can be seen in the cheapened view of relationships today in discarding a relationship for a new and improved one. It's my right to have... 

The concept of the Promised Land is a strong narrative in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The premise of the Promised Land defined Israel’s identity, but it was not meant to be a place to simply pluck God’s benefits. It was rather where God’s people were to thrive in the grace of ‘living out the call’ to be God’s people. Israel’s blessing from ‘the land flowing with milk and honey’ was the encouragement along the path of living according to God’s ways, not because they were entitled to it.

Our lives are not lived out in the midst of idealism, but in the midst of the real world as it is.A secular Promised Land spirituality expects it all and expects it now. Another Promised Land mythical assumption is to avoid hardships and separate ourselves from experiences of pain and leave suffering behind and move into our rightful blissful place. Escaping pain is neither reality nor God’s way.

Jesus says to all His disciples, “Take up your cross and follow me.” If we want to truly follow Him we need to start where we are, not where we wished we were whether it’s at work, home or in our neighborhood. As Christ followers we are to follow Him and live according to God’s ways regardless of what that may include.

Rest assured in knowing that there will ultimately be a Promised Land for Christ followers when, "There will be no more pain and no more sorrow and He will wipe away every tear."
Revelation 21:4

A Song of Hope for You

Were all marked by songs aren’t we?
Some songs bring back memories or bring us to tears. Songs can leave an impact upon us. Songs can change things. Certain songs stand out when we’re celebrating or grieving. Most of us sing when things are going great, but what if they’re not, can we still sing?

Zechariah sang from the depths of his heart for his love for his son John and the hope of Israel. Miraculously Zach’s wife gave birth to their son and Zach broke out into his celebrative song, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:  “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed his people.”   Luke 1:67-68

Notice Zach’s three words about Israel’s long awaited Messiah, ‘He has come’ John 1:1-4, 14 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God is with us) Isaiah 7:14.

After years of waiting, God’s divine visitation had ‘finally’ come to Israel just as God had promised! Israel had been wondering when their God would speak again? After four hundred years of silence since the prophet Malachi spoke God fulfilled His promise as he said He would!
How long have you been waiting for something or someone?

Are you in a long winter of waiting and are feeling kind of hopeless and losing your sense of purpose? Maybe you’ve become cold and numb and in desperate need of a touch from God? Maybe you’re feeling guilty about something you’ve gotten into? Maybe you’re worried about your future?

Then, you need to hear Zechariah’s chorus, He has come to redeem His people to give us hope for today and our future! He has come to reveal His Son to show His extravagant love to you. He wants to assure you that He knows everything about you and cares about you. You are His work of art that is yet to be completed!

In the midst our winter of discontent sometimes we can’t see clearly.
We might not even be able to see our own reality. We might be blinded by our own grief and tears. If so, hear the encouraging words of Isaiah.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

When things seem hopeless and uncertain be encouraged that, ’He has come’ for you too! Yes, He has come to bring light into your darkness and mine. Jesus came to live and die for you so that you could truly know Him and be His now and forever!  Now, that is something to sing about don’t you think?

Everyone sings something. What will your song be? May you join me this Christmas season in knowing that Zechariah’s chorus ‘HE HAS COME’ can be your song too!

A Very Warm Merry Christmas to you,

Mark

Are You Happy?

The article’s title in the in-flight magazine caught my eye, ‘What does it mean to be happy? Experts Disagree. ‘After a list of several definitions, the summary was - my-happiness-is-better-than-your-happiness… Like everything else, our culture has turned happiness into some sort of an achievement, a contest, like a beauty pageant. Be bigger, smarter, faster, and better looking.

In today’s age of entitlement many are mistaken to think that all social problems, economic insecurity, poverty, racism and even their own discomfort will end today or tomorrow. Many have come to expect that their lives should have less discomfort. We’ve bought into the conventional wisdom that happiness comes from something we do. 

We do this, we do that, we go here, we go there, and we just “do it.” Maybe happiness comes from having more or having ‘the’ vacation in that special place? Or being in the right place with the right person at just the right time? Yet, millions of Americans confess that in the midst of their pursuit of happiness they have not experienced it. Are we chasing something unattainable?

While I was in Uganda the locals told me,’ you Americans measure your happiness by what you do and have, we measure our happiness by the friends we have. Sharing a meal or taking a walk is enough for us.’  In contrast many don’t know how much enough is.  Charles Dickens said, “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

What if we had nothing to prove or no score to settle and no one to impress?  What if our happiness did not come from power, or the need to dominate or defeat, but from mutual respect grounded in God’s love?  

Could happiness be found in the simpler things in life that we might take for granted? 
Like a breathtaking sunrise or sunset, a song, a conversation or the smell after a spring rain or a tear from a good movie, or a smile from a stranger.

Are we able to say with the apostle Paul, “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:11
  
This all begs a question. How can we train our eye to see and appreciate the simpler things in life and thereby discover joy and contentment? Is there is a spiritual discipline to practice or another book to read?

Maybe it’s as simple as asking yourself each day, what am I grateful for today? How did I enjoy today or what surprised me today? Perhaps ask someone else those questions rather than the typical how are you? We can all say thank you to God for ____________ far more often. Try it you might like it.

Sometimes with gratitude you just have to accept life as it is and are grateful for what you have. “He is a wise man who does not grieve over the things he has not, but rejoices for those which He has” Epictetus

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. Brother David Steindl-Rast

Cautions and Red Flags of Online Dating

The last blog looked at the online dating industry’s advantages and disadvantages to the user. We also took a cursory view of the pragmatic and scientific approach of the dating services. Let’s discover a few cautions and red flags of online dating:

Safety and Privacy Cautions
If you pursue online relationships there are some important things to keep in mind. 
For safety and privacy reasons, never provide any type of personal identifiable info—full name, phone number or home addresses—on your profile.

Realize upfront that although you’re too classy to use glamour shots from 10-20 years ago, others are not. One woman told me, “I thought I was meeting a man in his early 40s. Turned out he had kids that were over 40.” Go figure.

All first in-person meetings should be in a very public place. Tell a trusted friend where you’re going. Check someone’s background before you meet him or her. Always carry your cell phone.
Online long distance connecting offers advantages, but also a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Think again, if you’re going to a place you’ve never been to meet someone. Too many told me they couldn’t get a plane ticket fast enough to get out of town.

Many men purposely go online to find the culture best fitting their desire for a certain type of spouse. For example,  the stereotypical ‘submissive’ wife from an Asian country or the young orphaned, beautiful Russian woman looking for U.S. citizenship who wants to emigrate.

Red Flag Signals
If any of the following red flags come into play, rethink your on-line romance:
Offers excuses not to meet their family or friends * Manipulates your emotions
Note: 30% of online customers are married or living with a significant other
Pressures for physical intimacy * Served time in jail *Asks to borrow money
Seems overly interested in your children, especially teenage girls
Listed on a state or national sex offender registry
Appears on America’s Most Wanted – I’m kidding, but you’d be surprised

Do You Want to Put Yourself in the Hands of Experts?
Rest assured dating services know what appeals to people’s wants and wishes. Some online dating sites target every imaginable user wish. The more scientific sites are almost like a diet plan. If you do this, this will happen. Some are subversively manipulative or debased at the lowest denominator.

Others appeal to your intellect, while others tug at your emotions, taking advantage of your emotional vulnerabilities. For the pragmatic online dating user connecting online seems more efficient.Why would they want to waste two hours of their time going to a singles’ group, church, hiking group and risk that nobody they’re interested in will be there?

Is There a Better Way?
In the not-too-distant past, community played a much larger role in meeting people. Today people substitute online communities for the lack of real world community. People hunger for real relationships that matter. God created every person for relationship. We probably agree that we need good friendships. According to recent Gallup poll, the number one need of Americans is friendship.

Everyone longs for genuine intimacy. Some of us need to consider deepening your current friendships and or/seek ‘new’ reciprocal, honest friendships—where you can be yourself. Encouraging and challenging friendships where God’s grace and truth is the standard of acceptance takes time to develop. Invest in people.

I’ve seen it countless times that people who invest in other’s lives more than their own for God’s purposes discover their needs are met in Him through the community of people they do life with.

Now, be discerning won’t you? “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”  Ephesians 5:15-17  

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Dating

I hope you enjoyed the last blog on Online Dating. If you’re not a single adult forward this blog to someone else who care about who could benefit from these blogs?  Despite all the differing opinions there are advantages and disadvantages to online dating.

As a former single adult pastor I’ve seen the up and the downside of online dating. Today, 2 out of 5 relationships begin online and people who once were reluctant to admit they used online dating are rarer.

While researching this vast complicated and emotionally charged subject over the years, especially for Christians, I have discovered perhaps along with you, that there is lot of conflicting information about online dating. In the process of writing this blog I came across an article entitled “How Do I Love Thee?” in the Atlantic Monthly that is worth reading.

Although a very pragmatic article, it has a lot of good factual data that offers fairly objective critiques of the scientific matchmaking of eHarmony, Match.com and Chemistry.com. The article raises important questions about the data these scientists are collecting on relationships and personality types.

These web sites all have full time staff PhDs in the social sciences, anthropology, and psychology that are constantly polling and testing thousands of willing participants that will help people find their best possible match.

Of course this research and development helps these sites become successful, but is all this test tube data reliable and does it take out the mystique of romance and remove the human factor of face-to-face connection?  Remember while the data can be very helpful, it will never be infallible.  According to some there are advantages and disadvantages to online dating.

Advantages:

•          Meeting people existing outside social networks where they would otherwise never meet
•          Meeting more people quicker with similar core values, faith, interests, background and preferences
•         Offers privacy and confidentiality (turns out now this is not necessarily true)
•      More convenient than other ways of trying to meet people
•          Safer than many other conventional dating methods

The advantage to ‘scientific’ online dating isn’t to come up with some foolproof formula for romantic connection, but it can offer a safeguard to prevent you from making a poor choice.

Disadvantages:

·        People lie about themselves. 61% of users report concerns about members misrepresenting themselves.

According to Lori Gottlieb, the author of the article How Do I Love Thee? says, “Women tend to lie in their profiles about their weight and their age. And men tend to lie about their height and how much hair they have. That just seems to be a given. But there are other things that people may lie about as well—and I use the word "lie" loosely. They may answer questions in a way that's sort of fudging the truth a little bit…

• Users hide information about themselves and one cannot know for certain someone’s true character.They may not tell things about them you need to know
• Geographical distance makes physical closeness difficult, if not impossible
• Increased potential for identity theft.
• The speed of the online relationship cannot ensure you’re seeing a person for who they really are and all you need to know about someone’s past experiences
• Wasted resources.  A third of all online dating users have never met anyone face to face as a result of their time, efforts and money.

Please know these recent blogs are not endorsements of any kind. In a few days you won’t want to miss our last blog of this series as we look at the cautions and red flags of online dating and some concluding thoughts. 

Please feel free to share your comments below. If you would like to share any experiences on a personal level please feel free to email me at: mark@startingoverworkshops.com  If your experiences are used in a blog they will be used anonymously.

Don't Miss the Moment - Let God In

German theologian Martin Buber said, “There is something that can only be found in one place. It is a great treasure, which may be called the fulfillment of existence. The place where this treasure can be found is the place on which one stands.”

Yes, the treasure of being present and alive today. 
And yet, why do so many of us feel there is some kind of deficiency in us? Like, we’re not where we should be, or even wish to be or we’re not achieving or doing enough.  We’re not successful enough. We’re not smart enough. We’ve haven’t done or gone to ________yet.

Blaise Pascal wrote, "By means of a diversion we can avoid our own company 24 hours a day."  But it's not just diversion. It's a kind of relentless pursuit of something elusive as if life is always just around the corner from where we are NOW. Many don't know what they want in life, but they’re sure they haven't got it, at least not yet.

Jackson Browne talked about this "empty pursuit" in a song "The first time I went on my own, when the roads were as many as the places I had dreamed of and my friends and I we’re one."  Yet in a later song called "Running on Empty," he says, "I look around for the friends that I used to turn to, to pull me through; looking into their eyes, I see them running, too."

If we can just find ‘IT’ or that relationship then we’ll be happy. It is as if we live with an expectation that life should be a certain way or we should… I'm all for living in the present moment, just not this one.  And yet, as Buber said the great treasure of a fulfilled life is in the ground where we stand.

Martin Buber asked,“Where is the dwelling of God?” Then he answered his own question,“God dwells wherever man lets Him in.” This is the ultimate purpose: to let God in. We can let Him in not only as our God, maker, savior and friend, but in where we stand today in the moment.

Have we lost the ability to savor the ordinary moments?
A few days ago due to a temporary handicap (crutches) I was riding an electric shopping cart in the grocery store with my son who suffers every day with chronic pain from Crohn’s Disease. That seemingly insignificant experience brought a joyful and grateful heart for the simpler things in life that we take for granted every day, like good health. 

You can be in the present moment when you let God in. For millions the hope for better health and healing can mean a whole lot more than several trips to your favorite vacation place.

We can easily miss divine opportunities that come our way.
They can be in the most unexpected places and times. Those great ‘treasure moments’ can be in the simplest encounters. In a conversation with the grocery store checker or the person you’re sitting next to in the doctor’s office or with a stranger at the DMV. This world is a pretty messed up place and it can mess with our expectations we have of life. We all know that. We need to slow down and appreciate the people right in front of us.  

Today, more than ever we need sanctuaries of care, places where we can feel safe and loved. But, we also need to be that place of refuge for friends, families and strangers. That treasured place is YOU where God can dwell and be seen by others.

               

A Song Of Hope for You

Were all marked by songs aren’t we?
Some songs bring back memories or bring us to tears. Songs can leave an impact upon us. Songs can change things. Certain songs stand out when we’re celebrating or grieving. What song are you singing now? Most of us sing when things are going great, but what if they’re not, can we still sing?

Zechariah sang from the depths of his heart for his love for his son John and the hope of Israel.  Miraculously Zach’s wife gave birth to their son and Zach broke out into his celebrative song, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:  “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed his people.”   Luke 1:67-68

Notice Zach’s three words about Israel’s long awaited Messiah, ‘He has come’ John 1:1-4, 14 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God is with us) Isaiah 7:14.

After years of waiting, God’s divine visitation had ‘finally’ come to Israel just as God had promised! Israel had been wondering when their God would speak again? After four hundred years of silence since the prophet Malachi spoke God fulfilled His promise as he said He would!

How long have you been waiting for something or someone? 
Are you in a long winter of waiting and are feeling kind of hopeless and losing your sense of purpose? Maybe you’ve become cold and numb and in desperate need of a touch from God? Maybe you’re feeling guilty about something you’ve gotten into? Maybe you’re worried about your future?

Then, you need to hear Zechariah’s chorus, He has come to redeem His people to give us hope for today and our future! He has come to reveal His Son to show His extravagant love to you. He wants to assure you that He knows everything about you and cares about you. You are His work of art that is yet to be completed!

In the midst our winter of discontent sometimes we can’t see clearly.
We might not even be able to see our own reality. We might be blinded by our own grief and tears. If so, hear the encouraging words of Isaiah.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

When things seem hopeless and uncertain be encouraged that, ’He has come’ for you too! Yes, He has come to bring light into your darkness and mine. Jesus came to live and die for you so that you could truly know Him and be His now and forever!  Now, that is something to sing about don’t you think?

Everyone sings something. What will your song be? May you join me this Christmas season in knowing that Zechariah’s chorus ‘HE HAS COME’ can be “your song” too!

A Very Warm Merry Christmas to you,

Mark

How Long Is Too Long To Wait?

It appears one of the biggest frustrations with waiting is how long things seem to take. How long is too long to wait for a promotion, for recognition, for a plane, for a relationship, for the light to turn green on our evening commute? Whether we recognize it or not, waiting is a constant in our lives.  At any given moment we’re all waiting for something or someone.

Waiting patiently is hard, especially in a culture with a microwave mentality.  We demand immediacy, in everything from meals to work to traffic to relationships.  We want what we want and we want it yesterday. In this climate of instant gratification, we can easily feel as if we’ve been waiting forever for something, even if it’s only been a short time.

Like Abram we can get pretty tired of waiting for that something to happen. Ten years after God had promised Abram that he would be the father of many nations he was still childless and he lamented to God about his situation. Then God told Abram, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Now, that’s an amazing promise.

Yet, it wasn’t too long after this promise that a bewildered Abram lapsed in faith with a little help from his wife Sarai.  What’s going on, how on earth is God going to fulfill his promise? There must be a way God, it’s been years of waiting with no visible results. As was the custom of the day, not God inspired, Sarai suggests a short-cut and adamantly begs her husband, “go sleep with my handmaiden and we can build a family through her.”   Maybe Abram thought, that sound good to me, sure why not?

Sarai made her own plan that seemed good to her and plus it was acceptable to her culture. Sound familiar?  Abram could a should a, but he didn’t. If Sarai thought Lot gave them problems she had no idea the radical impact of her decision would have upon her own family. They couldn’t wait and took matters into their hands. Gosh, that sounds way too familiar.

For 13 years both of them told everybody that God blessed their decision. The child Ishmael was the promised one, the heir apparent and the fulfillment of God’s promise. Then something happened that rocked their world and changed their names and lives forever.

At the age of ninety-nine God visits Abram and tells him that He is now going to fulfill His promise. (Gen.17:1-18) Abram can’t believe it, are you kidding me, we’re in our nineties? Abram cries out, “Oh that Ishmael might live.” Can you hear the pain in that statement? Don’t you see God I want this so bad, I’ve been telling everyone… Don’t you see this is how it’s supposed to be? This looks really bad for me now.

God’s responded, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Gen.17:19) Aren’t you glad that despite our many failings God faithfully fulfills His promises! They are not dependent upon us.

Waiting on the Lord is essential to growing in our faith journey. May we learn from Abraham’s that running ahead of God and trusting our own resources can create problems for us and those we love and we can miss God’s best. God helps us. We need your help! 

The good news is that there is more to Abraham’s life journey than this lapse of faith that we can learn from and apply. Join us next time for an unforgettable story of faith and sacrifice with real life application.

A Holy Interruption

Most of us don't like being interrupted, but it's inevitable. While interruptions can be rude and unintentional others are a welcome relief. We've all been interrupted  with good news like when your favorite team just won or with some bad news you wish wasn't true.

I don't know if you've heard some good news lately, but there'e plenty of domestic and international bad news to go around. The world has more than enough of trouble, there's always conflicts, financial trouble, affordable care trouble, our own health trouble, Duck Dynasty trouble and relational trouble. The list goes on and on. As Bob Dylan once said "there's trouble, nothing but trouble."

It was into a world of trouble when God interrupted a lowly group of shepherds thousands of years ago.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10

Where is the good news? It’s been diluted and hijacked by merchants and marketers. It’s interesting how the world looks at the birth of Christ. It’s as if much of the world has taken Jesus out of Christmas by Santa, jingle bells and the media. It seems like He’s missing in the news, He’s kind of glossed over in many of the programs, Christmas songs, nice sayings, decorations and debt.

But Christmas is a story of contrasts. To God and millions of others the good news that,
         
“today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:11

is the greatest news the world could ever hear in a world of bad news! As Luke says this good news is for the ‘all the people.’ You see God intended it for all, but it only makes sense and is only accessible for those who realize they need this good news.

God got the attention of the shepherds who were blown away when the night’s sky lit up when the ‘glory of the Lord shone around them.’  What does it take for God to get your attention? Is it an illness, a broken heart or dream, the loss of a loved one?

Why did God show His glory to the shepherds? How did they rate? Because they did with God, He chose them. It had nothing to do with who they were. The shepherds were the bottom rung of Jesus’ day; they were those you didn’t want your daughter to marry. They had no position or reputation and didn’t even own the sheep. Don’t you love it? God came to those who others sized up as insignificant, but not God!

Maybe we are not aware of it, but we’re the shepherds. Yes, you and I. Years later, the Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about God’s utterly amazing grace that was given freely to those who responded to God’s call.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth…He chose the lowly things of this world to confound the wise. I Corinthians 1:26, 28

Luke tells us that, a great company of angels appeared with the angel praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14

From a Jewish perspective to be in ‘God’s favor’ was to be one of His chosen. But this was not automatic for all, but only for those who responded to God’s grace. Jesus came for all, but not all will benefit from His coming.

This amazing good news proclaimed in such an unforgettable, breathtaking and dramatic way completely blew the shepherd’s minds. It radically interrupted the shepherd’s daily routine. It was a ‘holy interruption.’

Are you ready to be interrupted in your daily routine? Will your heart's posture recognize a God interruption during this busy Christmas season? God has a way of getting our attention.

Notice that part of the angels’ song was,”on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”Oh, how desperately we need peace in our world, but peace begins in the human heart. 

Even as Jesus told His disciples, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

The peace of God comes only to those ‘on whom His favor rests.’ God’s favor, His extravagant undeserved grace comes to those who are ready to receive it and allow it to change their lives.

When the Christ that was born in the manger is born in our hearts we will then truly experience His satisfying peace and favor.

The babe in the manger grew up to suffer and willingly give His life to show His incredible love to you! He came to have a relationship with you. Take the Christ out of the manger and allow Him to take up His rightful place in your heart. When you do He’ll wrap His arms around you and let you know how much he loves YOU! Now, go out and share the 'good news' to a world who really needs it!

Merry Christmas and May You Experience His Shalom This Season,

Mark
mark@startingoverworkshops.com

Hoping For A Valentine Card?

Millions are being spent on endless advertisements about what to give to someone on Valentine's Day and millions are being spent in response. Millions of others ask, "who is my Valentine?" or they wonder "am I special to someone else?" Millions are feeling kind of 'out of it' or disapponited. It's not just young school kids who wish they could get a Valentine card or even a note of affection..

There are more tales of the "origins" of Valentine's Day than arrows in Cupid's quiver. As expected, most have something to do with pagan rituals. Our modern glorification of sentimental love, celebrate with a flurry of cards (2^nd only to Xmas), 180$ million in roses; 36 million in heart shaped chocolates has little to do with Saint Valentine.

One of the most common legends is that of the 3rd-century priest named Valentine who secretly performed marriages when Emperor Claudius II reportedly forbade marriage believing the soldiers were halfhearted and homesick. He was imprisoned for his act of defiance and while in prison cured his jailer's daughter of blindness. The day before his execution (supposedly Feb. 14, 269), he sent a farewell message to the daughter signed "From your Valentine."

And so a tradition begins…

The first Valentine card was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife in 1415 when he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It's still on display at the British Museum seen at the left. Even by the Middle Ages, the church's hope for a more spiritual, saint-centered Valentine's Day was lost. And eventually, the idea that Valentine was actually the name of a person disappeared. By 1450, a valentine was the name of one's sweetheart. In 1533, it was a folded piece of paper.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged.

Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s the first mass-produced valentine cards in America. Valentine's Day has been a big deal at least since the Middle Ages.

If you feel left out and perhaps even unwanted on Valentine’s Day, God has a way reminding US of His love! Here is a one story…

"Hurrying through Chicago's commuter train station, I had an "Aha!" moment that stopped me in my tracks. I'd just left the candy counter where I'd bought Valentine's treats for an upcoming party a few of us were planning for our church's single moms. Doing so took my thoughts back to a cookout the previous summer, for which I had covered the cost. The single moms, their children, and I enjoyed a glorious day at a local sunshine-drenched beach, conversing and stuffing ourselves with burgers, chips, and all the trimmings.

As the afternoon ended, I sat among the moms at the picnic table as they enthusiastically divided up the leftover hot dogs, sodas, and desserts. No-one thought to offer me a thing. Though no-one suspected it, my feelings were a little bruised. No, I didn't need the food. And most of the moms had given little thought to where the picnic spread had come from. But the slight was significant enough that I recalled it in the train station six months later.

Then it hit me! How much more slighted God must feel when, as recipients of his enormous generosity, we're reluctant to share a portion of our resources with him. Just as I didn't need the potato salad, he doesn't need our money. But he does crave our gratitude—our acknowledgement that all we have is from him.

While Valentine's story may not have much to do with roses, chocolates, and heart-shaped chocolates Christians have long understood that love is much costlier, stronger, and lasting and more difficult than the cheap romanticism of our age.

God's Valentine for YOU is seen in His WORD that really tells YOU what true love is.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another I John 4:1-11

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! I John3:1

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18

God is in a relentless passionate pursuit of YOU!  No matter who you are or where you are, no matter or how far it takes He will find you! His Love will never be exhausted in His pursuit of you!

With His Love,

Mark
mark@startingoverworkshops.com